Just in time for this year’s election, while many people are reflecting on American Institutions, Amazon Prime has released a filmed Broadway performance of What the Constitution Means to Me, a play written by and starring Heidi Schreck. The play is based on a speech Schreck gave when she was 15 years old for American Legion Oratorical Contests around America. She originally wrote the speech when high school students were asked to give an 8 to 10 minute speech about how the Constitution personally affects them. She would go on to travel the country from the age of 15 to recite the speech in order to save money for an eventual college career, which would indeed come to pass, though she has made it a point to say it was 30 years ago. Having been attended by both Hillary Clinton and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg–who also provided her own critique—What the Constitution Means to Me was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a nominee for the Tony Award for Best Play.
As the title of the play asserts, Constitution is a personal account of what the Constitution means to Schreck herself, but it quickly becomes a story that women and minorities can easily relate to. The set is an imaginary American Legion, where she acts as her younger, 15-year-old self by putting on a light yellow jacket and an unassuming smile. While playing this part, she is asked to explain the greatness of a document written by a bunch of old white men to a group of old white men. She is joined on stage by Mike Iveson, who plays one of those “old white men” tasked with making sure her speech stays within the required time limit. The play focuses mainly on the 9th and 14th amendments, and addresses how it relates to abortion, domestic abuse, consent, immigration, and minority rights. Although she highlights these, she wants to make clear she still loves men and even quips, “I am a daughter of a father.”
After tears, laughter, and debating the “greatness” of the constitution, Schreck brings out a debater from a local high school, played by Rosdely Ciprian, to conduct a live debate on the topic of abolishing the U.S. Constitution. After a coin toss, Ciprian argues to abolish and Schreck argues on the side to keep the Constitution. Both make excellent points, and the debate exemplifies their point about feminism in the context of the Constitution. After all, women would not have been allowed to debate these issues during the writing of the document, yet both spoke eloquently and expertly on the Constitution.
The play comes off honest and candid, even though it is scripted. Schreck uses pauses to allow the full weight of what she says to settle with the audience and knows right when to assert humor to alleviate some of the tension. Given the serious subjects she approaches, it could have left audiences with a feeling of sadness, but the brilliance of her work lies in her ability to provide hope. What the Constitution Means to Me is an informative, funny, and captivating way to explain how the constitution can still negatively affect women and minorities, and it reminds the audience of the need for maintaining a healthy debate about who we are and where we want to go as a country
